War of images
The war that the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas has unleashed with its barbaric slaughter in Israel is also a war of images that has so far taken place in two phases.
At first, Hamas’ “liberation fighters” portrayed themselves as masters of life and death. They specifically aimed to send shock messages in order to paralyze Israel and at the same time serve anti-Semitic sentiments around the world. That the bloodlust of the murder squads, accompanied by incessant shouts of Allahu Akbar, as well as the enthusiastic approval or even cooperation of civilians in Gaza, would have severe consequences was of course foreseeable for Hamas - and part of its calculations. This meant that phase two, which is now underway, could begin, in which the terrorist organization no longer shows the world pictures of Jewish corpses, but rather of destroyed hospitals and blood-covered children in Gaza, which are the responsibility of the “occupiers”. In this context, it presents a number of brazen manipulations of reality, as other Palestinian groups have done in the past, which is why the American historian Richard Landes coined the expression “Pallywood” in 2005.
US historian coined the term "Pallywood"
The combination of "Palestine" and "Hollywood" stands for a deeply dishonest image and film reporting by the Palestinian side about alleged Israeli atrocities, which is based on staged scenes or fakes, although recently also ones where artificial intelligence is used. With his neologism, Landes responded to various incidents in which Palestinians were portrayed as victims of Israeli violence using manipulated or intentionally incorrectly contextualized images. Later, the Palestinian side also tried to provoke incidents so that there would be real deaths. This happened, for example, in 2016, when the father of four-year-old Muhammad Suroor urged his son to throw stones at Israeli soldiers in front of the camera.
One of the most active “Pallywood” protagonists today is the singer and influencer Saleh Aljafarawi, known as “Gaza Joe,” who is now followed by around three million people on Instagram. The young Palestinian either poses as a religious warrior with a submachine gun in his hand or sends dramatic images from Gaza of the consequences of Israeli air strikes. The latter often lacks authenticity. However, Aljafarawi is now also accused of forgeries that he did not commit. Some of the corpses he shows are actually bomb victims, and the "revealing" video of the miraculously "resurrected" dead children, which was intended to prove "Gaza Joe" a liar, came from a Facebook profile in Thailand.
On the other hand, there is enough evidence that Aljafarawi and other Palestinians are trying to deceive the world on behalf of, or at least with the very benevolent tolerance of, Hamas. For example, “grieving fathers” presented blood-smeared dolls, which was easy to see because the videos were edited amateurishly. There are also pictures circulating on the Internet of the “funeral” of a child who nimbly jumps off the bier when an air alarm suddenly sounds.
Video of miraculously “resurrected” children
Hamas particularly likes to circulate recordings of dead or seriously injured children – knowing full well of their propaganda effect. Many of them are proven to come from Syria and were taken between 2012 and 2015. This also includes the photo of a boy who is said to have been burned by Israeli phosphorus bombs, which has now been shared millions of times. However, this is the victim of a chemical weapons attack on Kurds in northern Syria for which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was responsible, the same man who now constantly accuses Israel of war crimes.
Regardless of the dubious nature of the Palestinian images, many media outlets in Germany use or interpret them in a highly uncritical manner. This applies, among other things, to the recordings of the Al-Ahli Clinic, which was allegedly bombed by Israel, but which was actually hit by a Hamas rocket. Another example is the fairy tale story of the ambulance that was demolished by Israeli fire, the damage to which actually resulted from a collision with a clearly visible horse.
The problem with this is that not only does the credibility of the media involved suffer, but it also further incites the pro-Palestinian anti-Semitic mob on our streets.
Source: Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung
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